So much focus is placed on Germany's dark history, but what is often ignored are the astonishing cultural and intellectual feats that were made just years before Hitler's rise to power. This time period, called the
Weimar Republic, lasted from the end of World War I to around 1933 when Hitler gained power.
Weimar culture was vibrant, daring, and unnervingly modern. Artists who were scarred by what they had seen during the Great War, used their medium as a way of dealing with their pain, and in doing so they unleashed a type of realism that is rarely seen even to this day. My favorite works emerged during this short but productive time, and artists like
Otto Dix and
Christian Schad (works pictured above) were part of the
Neue Sachlichkeit movement, whose work was gritty, dark, and purposefully ugly. Thankfully I don't have to travel all the way to Germany or Austria to see these pieces in person, as my favorite New York City museum, the
Neue Galerie, exclusively caters to my obsession. From now through August 30th, the
Galerie is exhibiting
a collection of Otto Dix's work, the first such collection ever held in North America. Now put down your
bratwurst, and get yourself over to the
Neue for a taste of some real German culture.
There are an endless amount of films that explore the relationships between men and women, but until the late 1960s it was rare to encounter a couple like Bonnie and Clyde. Young and rebellious, they acted out of desperation and recklessness. After all, it was the Great Depression and there were only so many ways to make a buck. They were both in their early 20s when they were killed in the infamous rural ambush, brutally memorialized in Arthur Penn's 1967 classic Bonnie & Clyde. Although many theories and controversies still surround their lives and their demise, they will forever hold their place in the annals of Americana. They were, after all, love addled outlaws - romanticized, demonized and forever scrutinized.
The real Bonnie & Clyde in March 1933.
